Written by: Haim Ravia, Dotan Hammer
Technology companies are increasingly being forced to pay fines and settlements due to violations of privacy and data protection laws. TikTok was recently issued a €530 million fine by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), and Google settled a lawsuit in Texas, agreeing to pay a penalty of more than $1.3 billion.
Following an investigation into the Chinese social media giant, the Irish DPC found that TikTok transferred personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA) to servers in China. TikTok failed to adhere to the required contractual provisions under Chapter V of the GDPR, particularly regarding the legal protections for personal data in the destination country. The DPC fined TikTok €530 million and ordered TikTok to amend its data processing practices to comply with the GDPR. Notably, TikTok initially misinformed the DPC, claiming it did not transfer data to China, and corrected itself later. TikTok indicated it intends to appeal the decision.
Unlike TikTok, Google opted to settle two lawsuits filed by the Texas Attorney General, alleging it violated the Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act by collecting personal data, such as geolocation and biometric data, without consent. Google stated that the lawsuits in question deal with historic privacy practices, which have since changed. The settlement did not require Google to change any of its current practices.
Also, this month, a San Francisco jury ordered the NSO Group, a spyware company, to pay Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, more than $167 million, most of which is in punitive damages. This decision follows an earlier court ruling that found NSO liable for breach of contract claims and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claims. NSO was found to have operated the Pegasus malware, accessed WhatsApp’s servers without authorization, and spied on more than 1,400 WhatsApp users.
Click here to read the Irish DPC’s announcement regarding TikTok.
Click here to read the Texas Attorney General’s announcement regarding Google.
Click here to read Meta’s announcement regarding NSO.
